Explanation:
Undulating bright ridges and dusty clouds cross
this close-up of the
nearby star forming region M8, also known as the
Lagoon Nebula.
A sharp, false-color composite of narrow band visible and broad band
near-infrared data from the 8-meter
Gemini South Telescope,
the entire view spans about 20 light-years through a region
of the nebula sometimes called the Southern Cliff.
The highly detailed image explores the association of
many newborn stars imbedded in the tips of the
bright-rimmed clouds and
Herbig-Haro
objects.
Abundant in star-forming regions, Herbig-Haro objects are
produced as powerful jets
emitted by young stars in the process of formation heat
the surrounding clouds of gas
and dust.
The cosmic Lagoon is found some 5,000 light-years away
toward constellation
Sagittarius and the center of
our Milky Way Galaxy.
(Editor's Note: For location and scale,
check out this image
superimposing the close-up region shown in today's APOD
on the larger Lagoon Nebula. Scale image
is courtesy R. Barbá.)